I am having a little R&R so here are some photos

I've been working really hard at the moment but not on much I can share .... I also recently had my thyroid removed which has been simple enough (apart from the damage to my vocal chords leaving me sounding like a very small squeaky toddler with a serious smoking habit!) So I have been looking for things I could share with you. Until I can show the interesting secret stuff ....



I recently went to my first quilt show - the Quilt Fest of New Jersey X which was held in New Jersey in March of this year. I was lucky enough to meet my stepmum there - Jennie Rayment - who was judging, teaching, lecturing and the featured artist. It was wonderful to have Jennie there to walk me through the exhibit explaining why certain quilts got certain awards and what if anything could have made them better. It was really educational - as well as great to see the lovely lady herself.

Here is Jennie in action explaining her tucking and twiddling techniques to eager visitors.

 I was very excited to immediately spot this quilt by Michael Michalski - who is also a new member of the NYC Metro Mod Quilters. I missed seeing this in person at a guild meeting - so I was thrilled to see it up close in person.  It won an honorable mention - I felt it deserved more. Michael uses Electric Quilt 7 to create his designs. I am so tempted to explore this software. Has anyone else used it? Liked it? Sees value in it?

 This was the best in Show from the Mid Atlantic Quilt Festival XXV. Quilted by Laura Trenbeath - it was stunning. The quilting was AAamazing. The added notions gave even more of a shimmery gold sheen.  I studied her quilting for quite some time. I want to be this good. I dream about being this good. My aim is to be this good ..... quilting that is - I'm not sure the piecing part of patchwork has me fully hooked yet!

I loved this quilt from the moment I saw it. It is my BJ Titus . I am not going to say why this one did not get an award as I don't agree with the reasoning at all. If I was a judge this would have been one of my favorites.

 I liked this quilt as there are 75 different materials used in this quilt. 75 different fabrics shows an amazing attention to detail if you ask me. I admire attention to detail - something I lack a lot of the time. This quilt was made by Maxine Burkholder and won an honorable mention.

Ok so this quilt isn't hanging in a particularly flattering way and is lacking something but all I could see was potential potential and I wished that I had had an opportunity to quilt it as the huge amount of negative space (space - get it?) and swirling planets. I saw adding shimmering swirling threads etc giving more movement & depth to the piece. (I didn't note who made this quilt.)

This was a beautiful quilt offered for sale by Pat Bishop called Spring Woods. 

I failed to make a note of who made this. But what fascinates me is the use of a voile or something similar as an overlay to make the fabrics a different color in some areas. The quilting was also gorgeous & very detailed. (I am now searching for things to put over fabric to change its color when quilting.)

Another quilt for sale - a beautiful landscape - I would really like to learn how to make landscapes - the detail and the mingling of colors and the added stitch detail. All yummy. I need at least another 12hrs on each day to fit all these things in .....

This is a snap shot of another quilt that was made from velvet & silk. The texture on the quilt was divine - my photo doesn't do it an inch of justice. Since seeing it I have been obsessing about quilting vast quantities of white velvet & silk ..... 

.... it is a bit dangerous going to these places and bombarded with inspiration, fabric lines & other fabulous ideas. I feel my head, workroom & wallet would all be in a better state if I just stayed at home & didn't go exploring ;-)